anybody ever wondered???

[Nab]

DT - you can make numbers look anyway you want to - talk to the people that get out and hunt down there - according to the latest numbers on there we must have a bunch of hydrilla again.
Hell, according to the numbers I've heard, SC ranks in the top ten for ducks killed per hunter yet our wintering duck numbers are supposed at or near record lows.
One of these days you might get off your ass and get out and see and talk to people yourself - sort of like the DNR boys saying we don't have an alligator problem in some areas - they sit in Columbia and just look at a piece of paper with some numbers on it and never go investigate for themselves.

[Nab]

Damn if it ain't tigger's bud - how's it going bamm bamm - kissed any asses lately?

[Boom Boom]

Hey there Nad. I think I may have worked out a way for the Refuge to be planted and managed by people who actually know how1 Check out the other thread and see what you think.

[Nab]

Whatever DT - look at your little charts all you want to - there are alot more killed down there than ringnecks and teal.

[Nab]

DT - yes, we probably held some of "their" ducks, but I've always considered "shortstopping" as a bigger event - using your logic every duck in the world is shortstopped somehwere - our geese were shortstopped by Maryland - meaning we went from thousands to dozens - so call it what you want to - we didn't kill the duck hunting in FL.

[clemsonqwacker]

Take a look at how low the SC harvest numbers were in the 60's verses the wintering survey data. Now, the recent wintering survey data is low and the harvest data is not extreamely different. What gives, better data collection now for the harvest numbers? Or does the amount of wintering ducks at the refuge really not have as large effect on our harvest. Or is it that the ducks are still here and being held on private property. Also it looks to me like sc and fla both had a decline in the 90's. Not arguing that hydrilla did have a major effect on our lake system.

[jwilliams]

Because the harvest information does not decipher wonder bread ducks. When you fill out your HIP card and put down that you shot 40 mallets at & *#$^"S tamie pond, that goes into harvest information. That is why numbers can tell you anything that you want them to say.

[DUCKMAN]

The wood duck harvest in SC is considered "extreme" by our northern neighbors. If we are not careful they could get enough votes in the Flyway Council to reduce the woodie limit to ONE in the Atlantic flyway! This is very real! SC has fought this for years but it is very heavy on the yankee minds! From about the second week in December on most woodies harvested come from these yankee states. These states are concerned about pair-bonding and nesting disturbance. Last year - there were wood ducks incubating eggs in SC the second week in February!

[Boogie]

I've seen them checking out boxes in January.....many times.

If the yankees try to reduce our woody limit, I say we invade again. This time we take nukes.

[Ghetto]

I've been watching a woodie fly into a box for the last couple of days. I don't know if she has eggs or not yet though. (I'll try to get a picture)

They should increase the limit if anything. I think rednecks know more about woodduck population than these official counter-people.

[Nab]

Keep the limit at 2.
Wood ducks are hard to count due their habitat.
On this side of the river it seemed that their numbers have been down the past 2 years and really down from 15-25 yrs ago.
Talked with a number of people who didn't even have them on their ponds this year - one was the biggest pond owner and planter on this side of the lake.
Wood ducks will never take the place of our migratory bigger ducks and it being one duck we do raise in state we need to protect them as much as possible - they were almost extinct at one time!
Just because we don't have as many big ducks doesn't mean we need to take it out on the wood ducks!

[Ghetto]

The woodduck limit should correlate to population. They are like gnats.

If they are determined to incubate early then you could possibly allow a cut-off for a woodduck season. This shouldn't have anything to do with the limit, nor should the number of big-ducks, or hunters' zeal for shooting them.

[batman]

Wow 155 repiles, I get back from hunting for a week in texas and it looks like I have stirred up the hornets nest. As to the Sherriff Nab didn't post this I did (Will Batson). I am glad to see that there is a group willing to do something. I refuse to accept that it is a bad idea to repair and plant it. I have not read every post so I am sure that I have missed alot. I can't even imagine that someone would have the gall to say that building public habitat is bad especially in a state that has very little. I read the statement about being in the bottom of the flyway well I agree but why is Florida covered up with pintails,widgeon, and all types of divers. I can tell you because I have been hunting there. FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! We have lost our grass but we can put something out for them. They don't eat cypress nuts and pine straw. If you have a pond which many of my friends do yeah it may disperse the ducks a little but it may very well help in the long run. Nab, KCM, and whoever else want's to help sign me up. PS My grandfather was a US congressman for 26 years I know how the games are played. I.E. we want fight the bridge if you keep the refuge from being planted. don't respond to that if you don't want to be brought out publicly because unlike some on this site I will not bash people but I will not stand back and let you lie.

[JABIII]

"I can't even imagine that someone would have the gall to say that building public habitat is bad especially in a state that has very little. "

Where has anyone on this site ever said that?